How do i defeat slanns?

Hi everyone, i was playing against lizardmen today, and the slann kept attacking all my best units and i couldnt defeat it. I even tried casting a spell on it and it got reflected back at me! Are there any good tactics for dealing with slanns?

I don't really see a Slann doing that much damage on his own, unless you mean that he was casting spells at you. They only have 1 attack. Tons of wounds, yes, but they can't get anything better than a 4+ Wardsave and I don't think they have any armor. You should be able to kill it normally if it's on its own- target Bolt Throwers at it, shoot it to death, etc.

I've never heard of them bouncing spells back though. I know that they can pass off a miscast to one of your casters, and they can make themselves Ethereal (only harmed by magical attacks) but I've never heard of them being able to turn spells back around on the caster.

That, given the fact that he seems to be beating up on your units with ease, gives me reason to believe that your friend may be duping you somehow...

Thanks for the reply. Yes he was casting loads of spells on my best units, and it was ethereal and passed its miscast on to me. And i think the special thign that reflected spells was a special item/special rule for a character that was in the unit with him.

Fly a Master with Ring of Hotek within 12" of it. I got lucky at 1500pts doing that.

Other good tactics are to take a Dispel Scroll, the Seal of Ghrond (which is a must have), the Hex Scroll, or any other scroll for magical defence. Malekith with his extra Dispel Dice and Spellshield works not bad against them either.

Shadowblade can be a good option to tie up or even kill the Slann. If it's ethereal then he's just going to stand there doing nothing, but if not he has a chance of killing it. Reveal him and then stick him in B2B with the Slann.

Ignoring the Slann all together and concentrating on the rest of the army can work, after all, if the Slann hasn't got an army to back him up he's in for a world of hurt. If your opponent takes Lord Kroak then throw a unit with the Banner of Eternal Flame at him. If he takes Mazdamundi (the Stegadon riding one) then throw a Hydra at him. A Hydra will easily take down a Stegadon 1v1 (mines killed 2 Stegadons, 2 Ancient Stegadons and an Engine of the Gods in 2 games).

Thanks for replying. Im definately going to take a seal of ghrond next time, and the ring of hotek sounds like a good idea, but how could i get a hero close safely within 12 inches, as i have no heroes mounted on anything that flies.

Also, do you think sacrificing something like a hydra to distract the slaan from the rest of my army would be a good idea?

I really think that you're overestimating the trouble the Slaan can cause. If he's bunkered in Temple Guard, charge them with Hydras and Excecutioners or Black Guard, if he's on his own, hunt him down with a Manticore or Pegasus mounted Master. Don't get tunnel vision about the Slaan, sure, he's possibly the best wizard in the game...but he can only go as far as his lore will take him. Plus, if he does take a Slaan, then that'll be less for your troops to fight due to their points costs so you can fight your non-magical battles far more easily.
One good way of countering it, though, would be to get Malekith and someone with a Seal of Ghrond, that way when you dispell, the Slaan will take hits from spellshield and you have +2 dispell dice.

"Take their gold, burn their homes, kill their familes and enslave their souls. Show them no mercy...oh and could you post these letters while you're out?"
-Malekith, Witch King of Naggaroth.

To be honest, a player with a Slann isn't going to care about a Hydra coming towards him, any sensible opponent won't let it get near. If it's ethereal he won't care if it charges him. Most Slann floating outwith a unit tend to be ethereal.

The Ring of Hotek is more of a "desperation" item for if you have minimal magical protection.

Most of the time I have seen DE armies go up against slann led Lizardmen armies, it seems the best tactic for the DE when they win is to go out and defeat the rest of the LM out there, go for table corners, do all the things you need to do to win a battle. Your never going to be able to out-magic a decked out Slann designed for offensive magic and he has ways of making your own magic phases...difficult.

ok I just wanna make one thing clear. If you find a slann alone on the battlefield, the LM player has probable given him the 'higher state of conciussness' dicipline witch will make him imune to all kind of damage but magical attacks- this means throwing a unit of executioners up his ass won´t help at all...

but ofc there is a chance that he has not given him that dicipline, but if you haven´t seen eachothers lists, I wouldn´t recomend attacking a lone slann